My German Lover, Part 26 chapter 3

When Paul opened the door, he saw his dad standing there...

"Hi dad...", he said, smiling...

Then he realized someone else was standing there too, right next to his dad...

Paul looked at the young man, and it didn't take long for him to realized who he was:

"...Pierre? Is that you bro?"

"Yup! That's me bro...", his brother Pierre answered, laughing his heart out...

Paul walked over to his brother, took him into his arms, and with tears in his eyes he said:

"I can't believe it's you... you're so tall... you're..."

"Yeah!" Pierre answered, laughing... "but if you keep hugging me so tightly, you'll pull the last breath away from my poor lungs..."

"Oops...", Paul said, laughing... "Sorry! But I'm so happy to see you... but... How come..."

"It's not my fault", Paul's dad said, rolling his eyes... "He heard me say to your mum I was coming to Bagatelle to see you... and he just hid himself inside the car trunk. That's where he made the trip... hidden in the trunk!"

Paul burst out laughing, hearing that... then he said:

"Well... come on in, please. We have so much to talk about. Let's join the others..."

As they walked into a beatiful salon, Paul introduced his dad and his brother to Will... then to the others...

"I've heard so much about you Will... I'm glad we finally meet...", Paul's dad said, smiling.

"So am I, Sir...", Will replied, smiling too.

"...And there's no point trying to deny the fact that you two are brothers...", Lutz said to Paul and Pierre... "You two are so much alike..."

"Yes guys... That's my baby brother alright...", Paul proudly answered... "The last time I saw him, he was just a kid..."

"Well, he's not a kid anymore", Lutz said, laughing... "Just look at him..."

"I guess he has grown a bit since 1940...", Paul said, laughing too... "Rather, I should say he has grown a lot..."

After dinner, they began talking about all the events of the last four years... There was so much to talk about...

But sooner or later, Pierre knew he had to talk to his dad and his brother about his plans... and he decided the sooner the better.

"Look dad... I don't want to go back to Paris. It's a nightmare for me with mum... She's gonna drive me crazy... Since we came back, she's been on my back non-stop... she even forbid me to try to locate the friends I had before we fled Paris..."

"But why?", Paul asked...

"She said she doesn't want me to "contaminate" them..."

"You're kidding?", Paul asked, not believing his ears...

"No... I swear... that's what she said... Anyway, I've tried to locate them, but they all fled when we did, and I don't know where they are now, so..."

"But what have you been doing since you came back to Paris?", Will asked...

"Not much... Since we left four years ago, so many things have changed in Paris, and beside, all my friends are back in New-York... not here... so the other night, I wanted to go out, to see a film... but mum refused. She said it's too dangerous. So I had to stay home and read a book to mum and Catherine, while they were busy, knitting..."

They all burst out laughing, hearing that...

"Poor Pierre...", Ludwig finally said...

"Don't laugh... it's not funny!", Pierre answered, with a sad look on his face.

"...Perhaps I could spend more time at home with you...", his father said.

"Even if you do dad, it won't help: She's after me, and you know that as well as I do!", Pierre answered... "So that's why I say I want to stay here with Paul... if Paul agrees, of course... I can't go back dad. I can't. And if you force me to go back, you'll have to chain me to her beloved grand piano, for if you don't, I will run away as soon as I can..."

His father looked at Paul, not knowing what to say...

"Look dad.. If Pierre wants to stay here with us, I have no problem with that... He's most welcome to stay. After all, Bagatelle is already a refugium peccatorum..."

"A what?", Ludwig asked...

"...A refuge of sinners...", Paul answered, grinning...

"...What am I going to tell your mother?", their dad asked...

"The truth! That's all! And don't worry so much dad... She'll be glad to get rid of me... the "sinner"...", Pierre answered...

"I guess there's no point forcing you to come back to Paris..."

"No dad... cause as I said... I would run away! I just can't stand her anymore!"

"(...) Fine! You stay here for now. I'll be back next weekend, so we can talk about your future. About what you intend to do with your life... Think about that, will you? I understand you don't want your mum to decide for you... and that's normal... But you have some thinking to do, if you don't want others to make decisions for you."

"I will... but one thing is certain: I'm not going back home with her..."

Their dad went back to Paris... and of course... madame de Brion was very mad. At first. Then, she said to her husband:

"Two sinners together... They make a fine pair! (...) Let him live with Paul, if that's what he wants. He's hopeless. At least, we won't see this good-for-nothing welter in his sinns..."

"How can you say that?", he asked his wife...

"...Don't look at me with that sly look on your face. You know as well as I do that your youngest son is no better than your oldest..."

"...That's your point of view, not mine. They are my sons, and I love them, whatever their sexual preferences..."

"That's not what I said. I don't have to agree to anything. But I don't judge them, that's what I mean!"

"...Do as you wish... I don't care... as long as I don't see them!"

"You won't!"

The next weekend, monsieur de Brion went to Bagatelle... and told his sons about their mother's reaction...

"I knew she was going to say that...", Pierre said... "And I don't care!"

"(...) You'll have to go to college...", his father later said...

"(...) It's too late for this year..."

"Maybe... but next year...", his dad replied...

"Yes dad... next year!", Pierre answered.

That year, each weekend, Ludwig and François would bring back from college their books... and teach to Pierre all they had learned the privious week... and with Paul's help, Pierre was learning...

Paul and his brother also had time to have a serious talk about their... sexual preferences...

"...She caught you in the act, huh?", Paul asked his brother one day...

"Look... my friend was only giving me a blow-job... not much, huh? But anyway Paul, I've known that I'm gay for at least three years now, and I have no problem with that whatsoever...", Pierre answered, grinning...

"I see... But you've never been going out with girls, so..."

"Have you?", Pierre asked his big brother...

"(...) No, but..."

"Again Paul, I know who I am, as much as you know who you are..."

"Okay... It's your life after all... I just wanted to make sure..."

"Yeah yeah...", Pierre answered, laughing... "Don't worry for me bro..."

As April of 1945 came, they were all happy to be able to spend some times outside the Château...

The winter had been rather rough on them, and they were all a bit restive. They all wanted to do something with their life...

Fortunately, during the winter, they had been able to do some work in the greenhouse... but now that the snow had melt, they began thinking about going to La Vacherie, the small secluded pavilion located on the estate, near the lake...

"At least if we go there, it will be a change... I'm sick and tired staying here, doing nothing...", Paul said to his friends... And of course, they all agreeded...

So as soon as the temperature was warm enough, they all went to La Vacherie, to spend some time over there...

And when Hans, Lutz's brother, saw Paul, Will and Lutz walking around naked... he asked them:

"What the hell is going on here, huh?"

Lutz burst out laughing... and answered:

"Oh... It has always been like that around here... but if you want to keep your shorts on, no problem bro. You do what you want. It's up to you... But for us, when we're here... we wear nothing... it gives us a sense of freedom, that's all!"

Minutes later, Pierre was walking around... stark naked!

It took Hans more time to get accustomed to the idea of walking around in the nude... but before the end of that day, he was as naked as all the others...

"Come on bro... We won't rape you, you know... We all know you're straight, so... feel comfortable...", Lutz said to his brother, smiling...

Two days later, as they were having coffee in the salon, back at the Château, Hans walked in and said to his friends:

"I've been listening to the BBC last night... If what they say is true, the Allies have crossed over the Rhine River and are not too far from Leipzig... and as for the Russians, they're heading for Berlin and should soon be there..."

"You're kidding...", Lutz exclaimed.

"No... it's only a matter of days before the war in Europe is over...", Hans answered...

"What about Hitler?"

"They say he's still in Berlin... and he said he will defend the Capital, until the Allies and the Russians are defeated...", Hans answered, with a grin on his face...

"What a lunatic...", Will answered...

On April 30, 1945, as they were all listening to Radio Berlin, they heard the speaker announce the Führer had died... while defending Berlin...

"...Sure!", Lutz said... "Can you imagine him, with a gun... fighting to defend Berlin?"

"I wonder what really happened to him...", Will said...

They didn't know it yet, but the truth was that, as Soviet forces had entered Berlin itself and were battling their way to the centre of the city where the Chancellery was located... Hitler has shot himself in the head, deeply burried inside his bunker...

When the Soviet troops took the Chancellery that night, Hitler's body had already been reduced to ashes... burned according to his orders by SS guards...

As they were listening to Radio Berlin, they heard the speaker say that Admiral Dönitz was now Germany head of state... and that he had vowed to continue fighting...

"With what? For what?", Ludwig asked...

"They're going to make me vomit...", Lutz answered...

"Anyway... whatever Dönitz says... the war is over. And thank God, we lost it!", Will said...

"...How can you say that Will...", Lutz asked his best friend.